• The Trade Desk's shares plummeted nearly 40% and analysts blamed a growing rivalry with Amazon.
• Amazon has expanded its ad business with a Roku deal and live sports on Prime Video.
• Analysts expressed concern over The Trade Desk's prospects amid a competitive TV ad landscape.

The Trade Desk's shares cratered nearly 40% on Friday, its worst decline on record, and analysts say competition from Amazon may be to blame.

The Trade Desk, which helps companies target people across the web with ads, beat expectations in its earnings — but that wasn't enough to quell Wall Street's concerns. In commentary, analysts also cited the departure of the adtech company's CFO, but largely focused on the Amazon factor in explaining the stock drop.

The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green responded to analysts' questions, saying his company would continue to serve an important role because it's a neutral seller of advertising, unlike Amazon, which also sells its own ads on Prime Video. He also argued The Trade Desk only competes with a small part of Amazon and suggested Amazon might one day allow companies like his own to sell ads on Prime Video.

"Amazon is not a competitor, and Google really isn't much of a competitor anymore either," Green said on the company's earnings call. "We're trying to buy the open internet, leveraging technology that values media objectively. We don't have any media. And we don't grade our own homework."

Analysts were skeptical of Green's optimistic stance, pointing to an increasingly competitive connected TV ad landscape. Amazon, Netflix, and Disney+ have all entered the market in recent years. Amazon's ad business, in particular, is on pace to grow fast with an upcoming deal to let advertisers buy ads on Roku devices through Amazon, and the NBA adding to Amazon's live sports programming on Prime Video.

Meanwhile, The Trade Desk is limited in its growth potential because it depends on its ability to access the ad inventory of other players like Netflix.

LightShed analysts had the harshest words, writing that "Green is either in a serious state of denial, or he is living in an alternate reality."

"The Amazon shadow over this stock is now front and center ... and harder to deny," MoffettNathanson's Michael Nathanson said, cutting his rating to sell from neutral.

Others were more sanguine. Evercore maintained an outperform rating, citing The Trade Desk's growing partnerships to sell Netflix, Roku, and Spotify advertising, and its expansion in retail media and international markets.

Amazon has become an ad titan

The bull case for Amazon's ad business has been gaining steam since the company barrelled into the TV ad market a year ago by making ads the default on Prime Video.

Gripes about the ad rates notwithstanding, advertisers like Amazon's massive scale, ability to target people based on their shopping preferences, and growing live sports offering on Prime Video.

Ad industry insiders recently told Business Insider that Amazon's entrance into TV advertising had made it harder for all but the top TV players, like Disney and Comcast's NBCUniversal, to compete.

A Morgan Stanley report in July said Amazon's Prime Video was on pace to dominate the advertising market on US-based smart TVs, knocking YouTube off its perch as the market leader in 2027. Later that month, Amazon reported its second-quarter earnings, showing its overall ads business growing 22% to $15.7 billion. That beat analyst expectations.

Amazon has also been striking deals with rival streamers like HBO Max and Apple TV+ to make itself the default destination for TV watching.

All this could be OK for rivals if the pie were ever-increasing. But the bigger worry is that CTV advertising won't be the growth engine it once was — leading media companies to fight for pieces of a smaller pie.

Nathanson pointed to slowing growth in recent quarters and intensifying competition from Amazon and Google.

He said he saw "a broader deceleration" in the US CTV ad market that should concern Trade Desk bulls.

• Netflix is quietly searching for an exec to lead its video podcast efforts.
• The streamer is chasing YouTube, which has cemented itself as a video podcast titan.
• Podcast listening and advertising are on the rise, and media giants are investing.

Netflix is quietly searching for a podcast leader as it looks to bring video pods onto the streaming platform, two people close to the company told Business Insider.

Netflix had previously explored potential deals with podcasters as it sought new areas of growth, as BI first reported. The hunt for an exec to lead a video podcasting effort shows how seriously Netflix is taking the space.

The streamer's interest comes as rival YouTube has cemented itself as a living-room fixture and video podcasting powerhouse.

Netflix has also shown interest in creator content more broadly.

"We're really excited about 'The Sidemen' and 'Pop the Balloon' and a wide variety of creators and video podcasters that might be a good fit for us, and particularly if they're doing great work and looking for different ways to connect with audiences," co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the company's second-quarter earnings call this month. "The Sidemen" and "Pop the Balloon" are two Netflix shows that began in the creator realm.

Netflix has not publicized a podcast lead job opening and declined to comment for this story.

One person who had conversations with Netflix said the company wanted someone who could make video-first podcasts for a big audience.

Many of today's biggest podcasts started as audio-only endeavors and later added video as audience habits changed and YouTube gained prominence. The lines between video talk shows and podcasts have increasingly blurred, and newer podcasts often now start with video in mind.

It's not clear where the podcast role would sit inside Netflix.

A second person who had conversations with the company said they believed it would sit in Netflix's TV and film licensing arm under Lori Conkling rather than the original content side. That could signal that Netflix might look to license existing shows, as it's done with some YouTube creators like preschool entertainer Ms. Rachel, as well as make original shows with hosts. Separate content-side hires could follow.

Edison Research has charted the continued rise of podcast listening. In a new report out this week, the firm said 73% of people ages 12 and over in the US listen to or watch podcasts, up from 55% in 2020.

Video is on the rise, too, with 51% of people 12 and up saying they've watched a podcast, according to Edison.

Podcast advertising grew 26.4% to $2.4 billion in 2024, according to the IAB. EMARKETER projects it will top $2.5 billion in 2025.

Other media heavyweights have made big moves to chase the podcast-listening audience and the advertising that can come with it.

In February, Fox acquired Red Seat Ventures, which produces Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and others. Amazon paid $300 million for podcast company Wondery in 2020, The New York Times reported at the time, after snapping up audiobook company Audible in 2008.

With so many options available today, choosing the best streaming services can feel overwhelming. Whether you’re into blockbuster movies, reality TV, documentaries or just want access to news channels, there’s a platform tailored to your tastes and budget. From premium subscriptions like Disney Plus, Netflix and Max to free streaming options like Tubi or Pluto TV, there’s something for everyone.

If you’re looking to cut the cord completely, you might also want to explore live TV options that offer cable-like channels without the hassle. We’ve also put together a separate guide to the best live TV streaming services if you’re after a full channel lineup that includes sports, local stations and breaking news. In this buying guide, though, we’re focusing on the top on-demand streaming services worth subscribing to right now — whether you’re binging shows solo or setting up family-friendly entertainment for the weekend.

Best streaming services for 2025

The original Pac-Man is unquestionably a video game classic, well deserving of its position in the inaugural class of the Strong Museum of Play's World Video Game Hall of Fame. But playing the unmodified 1980 release these days can feel a little slow-paced and repetitive, given advancements in game design and taste in the intervening decades.

So when I noticed a game called Pac-Man Superfast sitting under a "YouTube Playables" heading on Google's popular video site the other day, my first thought was "Wait, how fast is 'superfast' exactly?" My second thought was, "Wait, what the heck is YouTube Playables?"

You'd be forgiven for not knowing about YouTube Playables. Few seemed to note its official announcement last year as a collection of free-to-play web games built for the web using standard rendering APIs. The seeming competitor to Netflix's mobile gaming offerings is still described in an official FAQ as "an experimental feature rolled out to select users in eligible countries/regions," which doesn't make this post-Stadia gaming effort seem like a huge priority for Google.

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Even in the age of TikTok, YouTube viewership continues to climb. While Google's iconic video streaming platform has traditionally pushed creators to produce longer videos that can accommodate more ads, the site's Shorts format is growing fast. That growth may explode in the coming months, as YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has announced that the Google Veo 3 AI video generator will be integrated with YouTube Shorts later this summer.

According to Mohan, YouTube Shorts has seen a rise in popularity even compared to YouTube as a whole. The streaming platform is now the most watched source of video in the world, but Shorts specifically have seen a massive 186 percent increase in viewership over the past year. Mohan says Shorts now average 200 billion daily views.

YouTube has already equipped creators with a few AI tools, including Dream Screen, which can produce AI video backgrounds with a text prompt. Veo 3 support will be a significant upgrade, though. At the Cannes festival, Mohan revealed that the streaming site will begin offering integration with Google's leading video model later this summer. "I believe these tools will open new creative lanes for everyone to explore," said Mohan.

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For millions of music fans, the most controversial app ban of the past year was not the brief TikTok outage but the ongoing delisting of Musi from Apple's App Store.

Those users are holding out hope that Musi can defeat Apple in court and soon be reinstated. However, rather than coming to any sort of resolution, that court fight has intensified over the past month, with both sides now seeking sanctions, TorrentFreak reported.

Musi is a free app that lets users stream music from YouTube without interruptions, only playing ads when the app is initially opened. It was removed from the App Store in September 2024 after a YouTube complaint, but it maintains a deeply loyal fan base who swear it's better than alternatives like Spotify. Those fans who still have the app installed on their iPhones can continue to use the service, but if they lose access to the app (by updating their phones) or are first-time users, it is currently unavailable for download, to the dismay of many fans who complain daily on Reddit.

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Disney Plus will become the new home of CoComelon outside of YouTube starting in 2027, according to Bloomberg. All eight seasons will move over from Netflix, which has hosted the absurdly popular kids show since 2020.

CoComelon, essentially a series of mind-numbingly plotless, CG-animated vignettes set to karaoke-quality nursery rhymes, is a giant in the world of programming for children, having accounted for 601 million Netflix views in 2023. According to Bloomberg, it was the second most-streamed show on the platform last year.

Despite its popularity, Bloomberg reports that CoComelon views fell by “almost 60% over the last couple of years,” and that compared to all of streaming, it went from the fifth most-watched show in 2023 to not even breaking the top 10 last year. Still, it’s probably going to be a good deal for Disney, which will reportedly pay “tens of millions” a year for it. After all, 2027 is also the year that the first CoComelon movie hits theaters.

YouTube is giving creators a new AI tool that can generate instrumental tracks to use in videos for free without worrying about copyright claims, TechCrunch reports. The new feature was demonstrated in a video posted on the company’s Creator Insider channel this week.

In the video, the host, Lauren, shows a new tab in the Creator Music beta section on YouTube called “Music assistant” where you can enter a prompt like “give me uplifting and motivational music for a workout montage.” The tool then generates several tracks you can review and download so you can add them to your video editor. Lauren says it’s gradually rolling Music assistant out for users who have access to Creator Music.

Music assistant is one of several AI music-generating tools out there. Companies like Stability AI have a diffusion model that can make background audio for projects, and Meta’s open-source AudioCraft and MusicGen models can synthesize sounds and media using prompts, too.

YouTube has also experimented with AI music in other ways. It built a music remixer that lets you “restyle” popular songs to add to your Shorts. And its Dream Track feature, powered by Lyria from Google’s DeepMind, lets you hum songs and turn them into music tracks in the style of participating artists like T-Pain.